La Liga: Villarreal vs. Sevilla

Here’s another great game to look forward to on Sunday. Incredibly, after eleven matches neither team has drawn a game. Villarreal are currently third in the table and enjoying one of their best ever starts to a season. They have lost just three matches and won eight. Quite a feat when you consider they sold their top striker Diego Forlan to Athletico Madrid in the close season. Not to be outdone, Sevilla have once and for all put their bad run of four consecutive defeats well and truly behind them. They have won three out of their last four matches, including a morale boosting victory over Real Madrid last weekend. In the Champions league Sevilla are flying high too. After a terrible opening match where they lost three nil to Arsenal, they have come back and won the last three games and are now just a point behind the London giants. Arsenal will have to be very careful when they visit Spain later on in the month if they want to finish top of their group.

Curiously, both Villarreal and Sevilla have played at Athletico’s Calderon stadium recently, with exactly the same score line. Sevilla narrowly lost four goals to three in a brilliant game. Villarreal’s match also ended up four three, but they were able to exploit Athletico’s weak defense and won it.

Expect plenty of goals in this match, as both team’s strikers are in piping hot form even if their defenders are leaving holes large enough to drive a truck through.

Villarreal will be without their Italian striker Giusseppe Rossi as he got injured in the Athletico Madrid game and will be out for at least six weeks. His absence showed in midweek in Villarreal’s UEFA cup game against Mlada Boleslav, where the Spanish side dominated for the whole ninety minutes but were unable to kill off their opponent. In the end they suffered more than necessary and Mlada Boleslav were unlucky not to get the draw after they scored in the eighty ninth minute and the referee disallowed a second a minute later.

I am going for a Sevilla win here. We finally have the Sevilla back from last season and are hungry to get back on track in the league. Villarreal have been playing some great football, but I’m not sure how long their luck can hold out for.

Prediction: Away win (2-3)